Dear Chairman Clyburn and Ranking Member Scalise:
On behalf of the National Urban League, the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights and direct services organization, we commend you for holding a member briefing on “An Unequal Burden: Addressing Racial Health Disparities in the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Established in 1910, National Urban League serves nearly 1.7 million people each year through our 90 affiliates in 36 states, the District of Columbia, and over 300 communities. Our mission is to enable African Americans and other underserved communities to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power, and civil rights. Today’s member briefing obviously concerns our civil rights mission—as seen through the lens of racial health disparities.
National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial, along with Urban League affiliate leaders from around the country, issued the following statement in response to the civil unrest sweeping the nation:
Our communities are overwhelmed with grief. We are heartsick over the inhumanity we have witnessed in the recent deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. We are appalled by the callous response from the authorities who shrugged in the face of evil.
Cities across the nation have erupted in rage and despair. As civil rights leaders who are committed to racial justice, we share the protesters’ anguish, and the heartbreak of the communities where uprisings have turned violent.
August 1963
Written By: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
The Columbus Urban League and the Columbus Urban League Young Professionals (Columbus, OH) are calling for a blackout protest, asking people to voluntarily call off work. The peaceful protest tactic is meant to get their message across for racial justice.
Other demands include police reform, and an independent prosecutor to investigate police use of force in Columbus.
The organization says by calling off work, they can have a multi-prong approach to their protest. It’s an additional way to fight against racial inequality by limiting productivity in the workplace.
To read the full article, click here.
Stephanie Byrd agonized over temporarily laying off nearly the entire staff at her family's trio of Detroit businesses when the coronavirus pandemic hit.
But she's not just concerned about the impact on their bottom line.
She's worried other black-owned businesses will struggle to withstand another wave of economic uncertainty, following decades of inequity that made it hard for many to flourish in the first place.
"Most of the people I know who have businesses and are black are terrified right now," said Byrd, whose family owns Flood's Bar & Grille, The Block restaurant and the city's Garden Theater. "There could be a new wave of black businesses that are able to reinvent themselves post-pandemic, but black businesses could also be wiped out for the most part within a black city. What would it look like without black-owned businesses?"
